Westwood (70) positioned for run at first major

By

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Lee Westwood double bogeyed the first hole of the Masters. Five hours later he shot 2-under 70, which was a score that could’ve been much lower.

Westwood is still searching for his first major triumph. He has 14 top-10 finishes in majors but hasn’t yet found a way to breakthrough. Here at the Masters, Westwood has finished second, tied for 11th and tied for third the last three years.

Although he made double bogey at No. 1, he rebounded nicely with a birdie on the second hole, then recorded another at the ninth to make the turn at even par. Westwood made birdies on 10, 13 and 15 to get to 3 under but he slipped with a bogey on the difficult par-4 17th hole.

“Well, it was a good start – well, not literally, but it’s nice, a good first round,” Westwood said. “It wasn’t the ideal start, but I did manage a double bogey before the U.S. Open last year – that sprang to mind – and I fought my way back to have a chance.”

Tags:

Coffin, GolfChannel.com editor since 2008, is in charge of the site's editorial direction.